That’s how Maria Kristensen (F02) describes being a woman leader in international humanitarian aid. While she has sometimes found it challenging to be marginalized or “not invited into the room,” more often than not, Kristensen says, she has found it advantageous to be a woman in her field. Because of her gender, she is frequently overlooked and underestimated, which in turn allows her to quietly accomplish things – accessing female-only spaces, matching her management style to others’ working styles, or even negotiating the release of detained coworkers – that others cannot.

In fact, Kristensen’s overall career path since graduating from Fletcher in 2002 might be described as “business as unusual.” A native of Denmark, she was a rare non-U.S. hire at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York after graduation. Three years later, a desire for more hands-on work led Kristensen to jump at an opportunity to work with the Danish Refugee Council. Ten days after leaving her office she was in Darfur in Sudan. Since then, she rapidly worked her way into leading on-the-ground roles in international humanitarian aid work.

In recognition of her achievements, Kristensen returned to Fletcher on March 27 to receive the 2017 Fletcher Women’s Leadership Award. Established in 2014, the award honors women making exceptional contributions in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors beyond the United States.

Dean James Stavridis introduced Kristensen by saying that she embodies three core values: courage, commitment, and honor. And, as Kristensen’s own remarks made clear, one of the reasons she has been as successful as she has is that she not only embodies those traits, but has made them central to her work and leadership style.

Kristensen began her remarks with the forthright statement that, in her field, “women have to work twice as hard to be thought half as good” as men. However, in her work as in her reflection, working twice as hard is simply a baseline. She has adapted to that condition, but focuses on the need to “identify and showcase leadership that presents itself in different ways.”

Rather than focusing on characteristics of leaders as individuals – male or female, outspoken or reserved – Kristensen emphasized qualities of effective leadership, which depends at least as much on the team as on the leader. Recognizing that people are different, it follows that leaders also need not all be cast from the same mold. More importantly, as Kristensen pointed out, different people need to be led differently – and figuring out how to motivate, earn the trust of, and elicit top performance from one’s people is one of a leader’s primary responsibilities. “If your people aren’t performing,” Kristensen says, “it means you’re not performing” as a leader: your vision and strategy are not being translated into action.

Though Kristensen is clearly a naturally gifted leader, she credits Fletcher with developing the skills and approaches that have helped her succeed as she has in her professional life. Specifically, she cited the wide variety of people and ideas she encountered at Fletcher as helping her to develop empathy, out-of-the-box solutions, and comfort in diversity. Most of all, she said, “Fletcher prepares a leader for a world in which the only constant is change.”

One welcome change that Kristensen is hopeful the next generation will bring is a greater recognition of the value of diverse leadership styles that would make women leaders less remarkable for their gender. Though she acknowledged that it will “require tremendous leadership to break old habits,” it is exciting to think what women like her might accomplish if they did not need to work twice as hard just to be noticed. What if, instead, they were business as usual?

]]>Pakistan today appointed foreign secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry as its new ambassador to the US.

"Ambassador Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry will join his new assignment in Washington, DC next month," Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement.

He will replace outgoing ambassador Jalil Abbas Jilani.

Chaudhry, 58, is a career Foreign Service Officer with over 36 years of bilateral and multilateral experience in the field of diplomacy.

]]>The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University is pleased to announce Maria Kristensen (F02) as the fourth annual Fletcher Women’s Leadership Award winner for her significant humanitarian efforts working on behalf of refugees and displaced persons. Kristensen has dedicated her career to humanitarian work, and currently serves as a Senior Program Partnerships Advisor at Save the Children Denmark.

“Maria is an exemplary leader in the humanitarian world,” said James Stavridis, Dean of The Fletcher School. “Beyond her many professional accomplishments, Maria has brought help and hope to thousands of her fellow human beings. It is an honor to call Maria an alumna of The Fletcher School.”

“It is a great honor to receive such recognition from The Fletcher School, especially since this is the place that prepared me for a career in complex emergencies,” said Kristensen. “My graduating class is full of extraordinarily accomplished women, and it is humbling to receive such an award. None of my achievements would have been possible without the incredible work of my team members across the globe. I share this honor with them.”

Kristensen was nominated by 14 of her former classmates, who noted that, in addition to Maria’s many professional accomplishments, she is distinguished by “extraordinary grace, kindness and humility.”

“Maria’s courageous leadership, her sharp negotiating skills and her amazing capacity to identify and promote life-altering solutions for marginalized and threatened communities truly exemplify the Fletcher spirit,” said Leslie Puth (F11), chair of the FWLA committee. “We are very proud to present Maria with the Fletcher Women’s Leadership Award this year.”

Kristensen’s remarkable post-Fletcher career began at the Council on Foreign Relations' Center for Preventative Action, where she worked alongside leading policymakers to promote accountable governance in conflict zones. In 2005, Kristensen left for the field, where she has remained for most of the last decade. First working in Sudan, Kristensen became Head of Office for the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) in Darfur. Responding to an ongoing human catastrophe, she implemented protection and assistance programs for internally displaced persons, mapped rural areas previously unseen by the international community and helped communities determine plans and priorities for recovery from trauma. She also represented the DRC in international coordination meetings, negotiated the release of staff from arbitrary arrest and, when necessary, coordinated staff and asset evacuations.

Following her time in Sudan, Kristensen went to Sri Lanka, where she worked for ActionAid and built a partnership development, fundraising and communications department. She then worked in Western Sahara and Algeria, designing a practical livelihoods program to complement mine action efforts, in conjunction with local populations, military commanders, the UN and a government-in-exile.

In 2009, Kristensen moved to Chechnya as the DRC's Country Director for the Russian Federation. Despite almost total isolation from western colleagues at this time and at great personal risk, Kristensen changed lives. She moved internally displaced persons and refugees out of inadequate and inhumane living conditions into homes, obtained replacement identification papers for people who had lost theirs fleeing violence and streamlined the bureaucracy for those wishing to receive assistance. For her humanitarian efforts, Kristensen was recognized with the Ole Lippmann Foundation Memorial Prize for noteworthy contributions to Denmark, her home country.

With the Danish Demining Group, Kristensen led efforts to remove and dispose of mines and unexploded ordnances in South Sudan and Afghanistan. She then established herself as an independent consultant, working with clients from the humanitarian and other sectors. She currently works for Save the Children Denmark.

Throughout her career, Kristensen has fought to professionalize humanitarian operations by leading efforts to clarify strategic dilemmas and decisions, identify systems inefficiencies and find solutions, and push for increased accountability in operations management.

The Fletcher Women's Leadership Award (FWLA) was established in 2014 to honor outstanding women graduates who are making a meaningful impact in the private, public and NGO sectors. By focusing on nominees who are currently excelling in their fields, but who have not yet reached the pinnacle of their careers, the FWLA serves to highlight the leadership capacity of the alumna and provides a valuable credential to her list of accomplishments.

]]>The violence, part of a series of assaults on Danish diplomatic missions, was triggered by a Danish newspaper printing caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed. Among the expatriate staff, the reactions were mixed. While some froze up, Kristensen sprang into action, despite it being only her second humanitarian mission. “You never know what you’re capable of until you’re tested,” she said. “I happened to be the calm one.”

In short order, she packed up their valuables, sent home the national staff and drove her colleagues to safety at the African Union camp nearby. They soon discovered there were not enough critical goods to accommodate them there, so Kristensen returned to the Danish camp to collect essentials for her colleagues, under the protection of AU soldiers she recruited. They made it just in time. When they drove away from the compound, she saw her home for the previous seven months go up in flames.

Two weeks after being evacuated to Denmark, Kristensen returned to Darfur to continue her work. For the next year, she and her local colleagues drove through remote desert areas to find displaced people who lived far from any aid camp and assess their needs. She eventually rose to the position of head of the office and deputy regional manager for the Danish Refugee Council. Since then, she has led humanitarian missions in Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Western Sahara, Ukraine, South Sudan and Russia's North Caucasus region.

]]>Irene Mbari-Kirika (F13), a GMAP graduate, was recently awarded The Order of the Grand Warrior (OGW) of Kenya, the second highest ranking award in Kenya after The Order of the Golden Heart. The honor was presented by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta in recoginition of outstanding or distinguished services rendered to the nation in various capacities and responsibilities.

Mbari-Kirika is the founder and executive director of inABLE (est. 2006), a nonprofit organization based in the USA and Kenya with a mission to empower blind and visually impaired students in Africa through assistive computer technology. Today, inABLE is empowering the blind and visually impaired in Africa through assistive technology; the first computer program was implemented in July 2009, and the future goal of the non-profit is to implement the computer program in the eight schools for the blind in Kenya. Since its founding, inABLE has partnered up with large corporations such as Cisco and Microsoft to help develop their programs, which include the following: computer labs for the blind, reading spaces, and research and development.

"It's a huge honor to receive an award at this level, especially because our impact is on blind students who fall directly under the government of Kenya,” said Kirika. "Technology is a very powerful tool for special needs students and we have made some great progress.”

]]>Masha Gordon, F98, failed gym class as a girl and never thought of herself as an athlete. But about eight years ago, while on maternity leave from her job as managing director of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, she tried mountaineering in the French Alps and got hooked.

Now the 42-year-old mother of two has set a new women’s world record in a challenge called the Explorers’ Grand Slam. She has summited the highest peaks of all seven continents and skied the final 60 nautical miles to the North and South poles—all in less than eight months.

The adventure required physical and mental toughness, as well as detailed planning and good luck with the weather. Gordon, who is the vice chair of Fletcher’s Board of Advisors, summited Aconcagua, the tallest mountain in South America, just a month after breaking her wrist while ice climbing; she took her cast off early.

To reach the South Pole, she pulled her own weight in gear—about 110 pounds—on an unwieldy sled, skiing up to 10 hours a day in minus 40 degree Fahrenheit weather.

]]>The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded President of Colombia and Former Fletcher Fulbright Scholar Juan Manuel Santos the Nobel Peace Prize for 2016 on Oct. 7. Santos was awarded the prize for his efforts to end the country’s civil war.

“The president himself has made it clear that he will continue to work for peace right up until his very last day in office,” the Nobel Prize press release states. “The Committee hopes that the Peace Prize will give him strength to succeed in this demanding task.”

According to James Stavridis, dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, the school is pleased to know another one of its alums has received such a prestigious award.

“I was thrilled,” Stavridis said. “First for him, secondly for his nation, Colombia and thirdly for Fletcher because we’re very proud that he’s also … a former Fletcher senior fellow, and spent a year here with us at the Fletcher School.”

]]>The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2016 to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos for his resolute efforts to bring the country's more than 50-year-long civil war to an end, a war that has cost the lives of at least 220,000 Colombians and displaced close to six million people. The award should also be seen as a tribute to the Colombian people who, despite great hardships and abuses, have not given up hope of a just peace, and to all the parties who have contributed to the peace process. This tribute is paid, not least, to the representatives of the countless victims of the civil war.

President Santos initiated the negotiations that culminated in the peace accord between the Colombian government and the FARC guerrillas, and he has consistently sought to move the peace process forward. Well knowing that the accord was controversial, he was instrumental in ensuring that Colombian voters were able to voice their opinion concerning the peace accord in a referendum. The outcome of the vote was not what President Santos wanted: a narrow majority of the over 13 million Colombians who cast their ballots said no to the accord. This result has created great uncertainty as to the future of Colombia. There is a real danger that the peace process will come to a halt and that civil war will flare up again. This makes it even more important that the parties, headed by President Santos and FARC guerrilla leader Rodrigo Londoño, continue to respect the ceasefire.

The fact that a majority of the voters said no to the peace accord does not necessarily mean that the peace process is dead. The referendum was not a vote for or against peace. What the "No" side rejected was not the desire for peace, but a specific peace agreement. The Norwegian Nobel Committee emphasizes the importance of the fact that President Santos is now inviting all parties to participate in a broad-based national dialogue aimed at advancing the peace process. Even those who opposed the peace accord have welcomed such a dialogue. The Nobel Committee hopes that all parties will take their share of responsibility and participate constructively in the upcoming peace talks.

President Santos attended The Fletcher School as a Fulbright Scholar in 1981.

]]>Today, the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan appointed Vigen Sargsyan, who served as chief of his administration, as the new defense minister. Vigen Sargsyan (no relation to the president), 41, is replacing Seyran Ohanyan.

Vigen Sargsyan was born in 1975. In 1996, he graduated from the North-West Academy of Civil Service in St. Petersburg, Russia. In 1997, he earned a master's degree in international relations from the Yerevan State University . In 2000, he graduated from The Fletcher School at Tufts University with a master's degree in law and diplomacy.

]]>Muhammad Ali Sorcar has been appointed as the new Ambassador of Bangladesh to the Arab Republic of Egypt.

A career diplomat, Muhammad Ali Sorcar who is currently serving as the Ambassador of Bangladesh in Germany, belongs to the 1986 batch of BCS (Foreign Affairs) Cadre, a Foreign Ministry press release said Tuesday.

Apart from his ambassadorial assignments in the Netherlands and Germany, Sorcar, a specialist in the multilateral arena of diplomacy especially on UN System, also served as Deputy Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to UN in New York and Bangladesh Embassy in Brussels.

He holds an MBBS degree from Mymensingh Medical College and a Masters degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy from the Tufts University in USA.